


Nightmare

by Windian



Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, main game, set at Gralesyde after Richard and Pascal joins the party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 23:40:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5352743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windian/pseuds/Windian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since the fateful night in the catacombs when they were children, Richard's had nightmares. Yet when he woke nobody was ever there to comfort him, until now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmare

Richard's had nightmares ever since he was a boy.

They started after he was poisoned, on that night he's thought on so often yet cannot recall with any degree of immediate accuracy.

In his dreams, he's sneaking down through the palace catacombs, excitement tight in his chest at the thought of seeing his friends again. Except he starts finding it hard to breathe. It isn't excitement caught in his throat, but something else—

As he slips to the floor, it occurs to him what's happened, and _so this is what it's like to die._

It isn't fair, Richard thinks.

After all that loneliness, at last he'd made a friend. He never thought he'd see Asbel again, but he came. He came to Barona with all their other friends to see him.

And as his vision starts to slip away, he thinks— _and now I'll never get to see him again._

_I'll be alone, again._

But that's not strictly true. As he rouses himself briefly from unconsciousness and pulls himself up, the poison inside his body burning his insides, pulling in breaths in ravaging, choking sobs, he sees his friends lying unconscious. Asbel, Hubert, Cheria and Sophie, and—

Richard finds himself staring back into the eyes of a monster.

In the inn, Richard wakes with a shout. He's still choking, feeling as though he can't breathe, and it reminds him all too much of the horror of his uncle's uprising. Seeing his own father cut down, right in front of him. Buried beneath the dead bodies, the smell of blood choking him, utterly weak and helpless, and—

"Richard! Richard, you were just having a bad dream."

He's had these dreams since he was a boy. Yet, in his huge bed in his plush bedroom, nobody was ever there with him when he woke.

Swallowing down ragged breaths, he feels hands grasping his shoulders, and involuntarily he jerks away.

"Richard, it's just me."

He sees eyes in the dark, and Richard swallows, throat so dry it burns like sandpaper.

_Asbel._

Reality starts to set back in as he takes in his surroundings. He's not a child afraid in the dark anymore, and Asbel has rescued him from that crypt, those bodies. Yet the horror remains, a persistent heartbeat in his eardrums and tightness swallowing up his chest.

It's Asbel's hands that hold him, and his friend holds him so tightly, yet so gently that Richard finds himself grasping for him. Asbel lets him, and as Richard sinks into his embrace he feels his friend rubbing comforting circles against his back.

"I thought I was back there, in the crypt—" he stutters, trying to explain.

"It's alright, Richard. You don't need to say anything. It's all over now. I'm here."

_I'm here._

Not since he was very small, back when his mother was alive has anyone held Richard like this. He's lived so long with reserved, indifferent respect and it's only with his friend's arms holding him tightly, yet so tenderly that he realises how much he's been craving this kind of contact. Richard clutches at Asbel, fingers burying themselves in the folds of his friend's nightshirt. His face is pressed to the hard line of Asbel's collarbone and he breathes in the scent of fresh air and sunshine that is so absolutely _Asbel_.

(it's not the first time he's thought of holding Asbel like this. How many times since he was a child has he day-dreamed about finding his friend again? About finally summoning the courage to visit him at the knight academy. Wondering about what he looked like: whether he ever grew out of his impish smile; if he combed his scruffy hair now; whether whether whether)

Richard's breath evens. Fingers cease to tremble. He clings to his friend a little longer, breathing in the moment between them. Reluctant to cease the contact between them.

"Richard?"

It's only this prompt that with a final reluctance that Richard peels himself away. His eyes adjust. Dimly, he sees the upturned concern in the corner of Asbel's mouth.

He's struck by the overwhelming urge to kiss the frown away.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Asbel," Richard says, in a small embarrassed murmur.

"Was it a nightmare?" Asbel asks.

He nods. "It's nothing to worry about. I have them often."

The stubborn frown doesn't budge. Nor does Richard's desire to dissipate the awful distance between them, to cup Asbel's face as though to assure himself his friend is real. To—

Asbel's hand closes over his own. It's calloused and hot, and holds his tightly. "I have them, too," he said.

"Asbel…?"

He turns his head away slightly. Scratches at his chin. "Sorry. You were… you were talking about Sophie in your sleep, so I assumed…"

"Oh. You… you dream about it too? That night in the catacombs?"

Asbel nods, his jaw tight. "Yeah."

Richard can't help but imagine it. While he was screaming himself awake in a cold sweat in the castle, his dear friend suffering the same. Asbel, adrift from his friends and family and all alone. Less than a league from him, yet so far away. Going through the exact same thing.

"I've always known it was all my fault," said Asbel. "I was such a stupid kid. For years I thought… if only I hadn't come to Barona, and dragged her with me. None of them wanted to go down there. Cheria and Hubert were frightened. If only I hadn't been so pig-headed. If only I—"

"Asbel." Now it was Richard's turn to clasp his friend's hand, sandwiching it between his own. "You were just a child. How could you have known what was going to happen? Besides. If we're going to assign blame, it was because of me that you were even in the catacombs to begin with. If only you hadn't come to see me…"

If only. For years he'd thought, _if only_. He'd longed to see Asbel again, but he couldn't. Because if only Asbel had never met him, none of it would have happened. Sophie would still be alive, if it wasn't for him.

And whenever he tried to swallow down the guilt, it rose up again like bile.

"Richard! You can't mean to say you were blaming yourself?" Asbel says in shock. "You'd done nothing. It was all my…"

"No," Richard says, speaking vehemently. "It wasn't your fault."

"Then it wasn't yours, either," Asbel says, just as stubborn. They hold onto one another's hands tightly, and all of a sudden Richard starts to chuckle.

"Uh… Richard?"

"Just listen to us. Both of us convinced it was our fault. Too stubborn to listen."

Asbel considers this, and shakes his head. The corners of his mouth turn up, just a little. He laughs softly. "Ridiculous. This whole situation is ridiculous. And after all of this, Sophie comes back like she never left."

"Do you really think she's the Sophie we knew?" asks Richard.

"I have no idea…" says Asbel. "But I spent so long hoping I'd just wake up one day and she'd be there. Now I can't help but wonder if I'm just hoping she's the same girl. That's what Cheria thinks, and maybe she's right. Maybe I'm that desperate to stop feeling guilty."

"I admit I wonder the same thing. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it really was her? I can't help but fear it's mere wish-fulfilment. Though…" Richard hesitates.

"Richard?" Asbel urges him.

"I never thought I would have the chance to see you again, Asbel, and yet here you are. I think I told you before, but as I staggered my way out of the secret passage, I hoped that you would come and save me. It still seems sort of dream that you're actually here."

Asbel's hand, squeezing his tight. "Once I heard what was happening, there was no way I could leave you there, Richard."

"After all these years, though, I thought you may well have completely forgotten about the time we spent together," Richard confesses. "It was only a few days, after all. Not even that."

"Never," says Asbel. His eyes shine bright in the dark with the force of his conviction. "Richard, never in my life will I forget that pact we made with Sophie. Or when you gave us a tour around Barona. I'll never forget when you took us to your favourite place and we stood looking out over Windor, and you told us about your dream of peace. And now we can make it happen. I know things have been terrible recently, but I'm by your side. And Sophie's with us now, too. Together we can make your dream of peace a reality."

"Asbel…" The horror of everything that's happened is still choked up in his throat, but with Asbel's hands in his and that tight, warm feeling in his chest he can't help but believe him.

With Asbel with him, it makes him think that maybe, one day things might just be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Quick fic I did for NaNoWriMo. This year I wrote a bunch of Tales fics for it-- mostly for Graces (cough cough yeah it was all richass.) Currently going through and editing things, so look forward to more soon! Any comments or critique are appreciated. ^^


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